Dresden, Germany: No One Is Alone

Melody knew that Bo had been down since the news of his parents. Their adoptive parents had gotten the information on all of their kids, but Melody was a little scared to read hers. So she'd been putting it off, but Bo had decided to read his. She knew what it had contained. The notice that his parents had passed away. That was a sad day as she watched him to walk up to his room and not exit it expect for dinner.

She walked up to his room with her folder of her information and knocked on his door. "Bo..." she said softly, like she was talking to a young child who needed comforting. "May I come in...?" She asked. She knew that Bo didn't favor her very much due to her protective sister instincts, but she wanted to show him that she did care and knew where he was coming from.

Most the the things in the files were private, but he'd been so distraught that their parents had decided to fill the other children in so they knew not to bring up the topic. She wasn't sure if her parents had passed, but she did know one thing. She was going to try to comfort her little brother and just try to let him know that no one is alone.

Ever since the news of his birth family had reached him, Bo hadn't been the same. He was never usually incredibly talkative in the first place, but he became even more so reclusive, read the same few books, and listened to the same records. He wasn't in good cheer when the holidays came around and he went home to celebrate it with the family. He knew if he asked, Marigold and Oliver would let him stay at school, but he felt obligated to return to Dresden regardless. He hadn't bothered to unpack his bag and spent most of his time in his room.

He was writing in his journal, listening to the Smiths, when he heard a knock on the door. Bo shut the journal, marking his spot with one of his fingers before granting Melody entrance. "What is it?" He asked, looking at his ginger sister through his messy brown hair. She was holding what looked like a large envelope, similar to the one he had received about his family, which made him even more so at unease.

Melody gave him a small smiled. "How are you doing, Bo?" She asked him sweetly. Though, they had their arguments, she really cared about him. "I thought maybe we could have some brother sister time?" She explained her reasoning for being there. "I haven't opened my files yet, but...I thought maybe we could do it together? Maybe learn a little more about each other?" She suggested.

She knew that it was a long shot, but Bo had really secluded himself and she was really worried about him. After all, he was her brother. Adopted or not. Looking at his reluctant expression she sighed. "I just want to make sure that you're okay..." She whispered. "I just want to know if you want to talk about it."

Bo dramatically shrugged and heaved a sigh as a response to Mel's question of how he was doing. He was only asked that question several times each day between all his family members and he was getting tired of it. It's not like he could answer that question honestly. "Doing what?" he asked, rolling his eyes. He didn't like the sound of that, brother-sister bonding time.

"Listen Mel," He sat up in bed so he could look Melody in the eyes. "These files are really personal. I appreciate the effort, but I don't feel comfortable reading it." Just as he didn't feel comfortable telling anyone else about what was included in his files. Marigold and Oliver somehow figured it out and he had a feeling majority of his family did too.

He sighed heavily and dropped back onto his bed, turning so his back faced Mel and stared at his stuffed animal elephant, Aisha. "I'm fine, Mel," He said, sounding annoyed. "There's nothing to say about it. What happened, happened," He was choking up some and was wishing Mel would leave on her own, but he knew she wouldn't, so he just kept his back to her.

Mel walked in even though Bo was VERY reluctant to talk to her. So she'd invited herself in and stood awkwardly. She knew that he was upset, but he wanted to either A: Be strong, or, B: Be in denial. Sighing she waited for him to finally say something, but when he did. He was just ignoring everything and just said he was fine. She knew that he was hurting, but one problem that Bo had was knowing that it was okay to be sad and show others your emotions.

She heard the sadness in his voice and walked over and sat down next to him. "Bo.." She said softly and rubbed his back. "It's okay to be sad..." She paused for a second and then continued. "I know you want to be strong, but being able to show that you know your weaknesses is a sign of strength." She said and sighed looking down at the folder. She'd brought the files, but also something else. A present.

"I have something for you." she told him with a small smiled and handed him a small box. It wasn't much, but it was something special to her, but she wanted to him to have it. She nodded when he looked at the small gift confused. "Go on." She encouraged and moved her hand closer.

Beauregard scoffed and gave Mel the cold shoulder, hoping that if he was cold enough, she'd give up and leave him alone. Instead, she came closer and rubbed his back in attempt of comforting him. He didn't want to admit it, but he enjoyed the physical affection, for there was so little physical affection in his life for so long.

"I'm just not outgoing like you are, Mel. I could talk about my problems but there are a lot of them, so I write them down." He motioned towards his journal. "So there. It's not like I just bottle things up all the time." But he did anyway, until he reached his breaking point and then he ended up crying, like he did in his dorm room in front of Riley when he first received the news of his parents.

He turned his head enough so he could see what Melody had as she told him she had something for him. He was expecting bad news, but instead it looked more like a small gift. He sat up and accepted the small parcel into his large hands and cautiously lifted the lid off of the box. "What is it?" He asked, indifferently.

Melody smiled at her brother as he started to open up. It was the first time that he really seemed to tell her what he was thinking. What he was saying was true. He wasn't outgoing. He and Gi were very similar in that aspect. They didn't like to dive into things. They liked to test the waters and make sure that it was the right temperature. She nodded understandingly. Or at least she tried to. "I'm glad you have a way to vent, we all have our ways of coping."

She smiled when finally opened the lid of the gift. It was a watch. She knew he was probably confused that she was giving him a watch, but it had symbolic meaning. "I want to give you this because it was something that my favorite teacher gave me back in the orphanage." She explained. "Also, you see the red band?" She said pointing out the weaved red wristband. "It's said that the red band protects you from evil and makes you happy." She finished and smiled. "I want you to have it."

It was blatant that the gift given to him was a watch, but Bo didn't understand it. He snaked a finger through the wrist band and held it up for closer examination. It looked like an average watch, though with perhaps a hand-woven band. He met Melody's eyes as she explained the significance of it. The watch truly meant something to her, yet she wanted him to have it.

He slide the band over his boney wrist and admired it against his cappuccino colored arm. He smiled appreciatively. Mel explained that the red band was significant and warded off evil and sadness. Bo didn't believe in superstitious frivolities like that but he knew Mel did, so he said nothing about it. "Thank you," He leaned forward and gently embraced his sister for a moment before letting go. "I wish I had something to give you in return, but you'll just have to wait till Christmas for your present," He replied, smiling slightly. He did feel guilty that he had nothing of equal significance to give to her. He had Aisha, but Mel was older than he was and he didn't think she'd want his old stuffed animal. Nor did he think he could sleep without it. He'd just have to come up with some other way to make it even between them.

Melody smiled as Bo put the watch around his wrist. She admired it on him. He looked very officail with it on, and this made Melody realize just how fast her little brother was growing up. It amazed her. It just seemed like yesterday that her parents had come home with Bo. When she had first met him, he had been shy and quiet, but now he had started to come out of his shell. Not in massive amount, but just enough to notice a difference. So it made her smile when he hugged her. He hadn't ever hugged her first, and this made her happy.

Melody giggled when he talked about giving her something in return. "It's okay, little brother, this is my gift to you." She winked. "Now." She spoke and glanced over at her yellow file folder. "Want to help me?" She inquired. The things in these folders were personal, but she wanted to be open with him and help him to know that she meant well and no matter what, that he was part of her family and she loved him.

Bo rolled his eyes at the phrase 'little brother.' "Puh-lease, I'm way taller than you," He replied, smiling slightly at his joke. He bit his lip as Mel asked him to help her. "Are you sure?" He asked, hesitantly. He wasn't sure if it was right for him to read them along with her. She ought to read them by herself first and then decide what she was comfortable sharing with him. However, he didn't think his stubborn sister was about to give in so easily at that point, so he had to.

He nodded hesitantly and then scooted closer to her on the bed. His fingers wrapped around the paper of the manila envelope and he paused. "If there is anything too personal, you are not obligated to show me. You can change your mind at any point," He told her.

Melody giggled as Bo started laughing with her. She was happy that he was opening up. "I'm still older!" She teased him. However his tone switched back a serious one when she brought up the files again. She nodded and gave him a small smile. "Yes. I understand." She said and then opened the flap of the envelope.

She bit her lip a little bit as she pulled out the birth certificate. As she read the sheet of paper she immediately saw the name on it. "Sophia Artemis Kron." She said and bit her lip. "There must be some mistake...I don't understand." She said and showed it to Bo. "My name isn't Sophia. Oh dear...they must have gotten my files mixed up with this girls."

She quickly looked in the folder that had many other things and saw a letter inside addressed to her from the first family that had adopted her.

"Dearest Sophia,
You probably have a lot of questions and though we can't be there to answer them for you, but perhaps we can clear a few things up. Well first thing, your name might be changed, but believe us. We love you. I know it's probably confusing in the sense that we're still not your parents, but there were a couple complications with your adoption. you see if your birth parents want to claim you back within the first 4 years then they are allowed to take you back. That is what happened. Your father wanted you back, but still follow through leaving you in the adoption center. Therefore you were transferred to many other orphanages with your were adopted again. We were not aware of this until it was too late. As for your mother, she was very sick when your were born and didn't survive, we're sorry. We can't change the past, but we encourage you to embrace you future, Sophia.

-Kristoff and Hannalie Kron"

Beauregard looked over Melody's shoulder as she pulled out the birth certificate. He felt a pang of jealously as his envelope was void of a birth certificate. He was born in a hostile environment and not only did riots take his family, but most of his documentation. He wasn't surprised to see she had a completely different name. Beauregard wasn't always his name. The name was blatantly French and thus he adopted it with his first family. This seemed to be news to Mel. "It's a pretty name. Could be worse, right?"

But then the letter came. Mel read it out loud and with each word, Bo was more baffled. "I don't understand," He said as she finished. Her mother had succumbed to illness but her father wanted her back. He bit his lip. Now that Mel knew that, would she try to find her father? Bo knew that for many years he plotted on finding his birth parents and would've continued to do so if he hadn't learned they died many years ago. Bo didn't want her to leave.

He regarded the envelope and pulled something metallic from it. "A locket?" He said, more a question than a statement. He held it out towards Mel for her to take.

Melody was confused by the certificate and the letter, but was also saddened. She gave a weak shrug when Bo told her that her name could've been worse. However that wasn't her main concern at the moment. Her birth mother was dead. She felt a pang of guilt for not inquiring sooner about her, but she had been so content with her current family that the thoughts hadn't crossed her mind until their parents announced they had information on their adoptions. She was nervous about the fact that her father wanted her back. But it was obvious that the four year mark had been passed, she wasn't sure if she wanted to meet him. After all he'd given her up.

Melody took the locket from Bo's hands and observed it. It was a small little silver heart on a metal chain with the words on the edges of the heart saying. "With love forever, my darling girl." Melody bit her lip hard and opened it. Inside was a young woman, looking about the age of 26. The woman was pretty and had Melody's ginger hair and ivory skin. "She's so beautiful." She whispered as a tear escaped her eyes. She brushed it away and just looked at the picture in silence.

The locket seemed to be a gift that never came for Mel until now. Bo wondered who it was from, but it bore no letter with it. Only an inscription. Mel opened the locket and inside was a picture of a young pretty woman. "She looks like you," He noted. Almost the striking image of Mel, but a bit older. "I'm sorry to hear about her," He rested a hand on Mel's shoulder and squeezed it gently. He remembered how awful he felt when he learnt of his families' passing. "I know how it feels," He said as he watched his sister brush away a tear from her eye. "My whole family died as well. Though you probably know that by now," Bo relayed. Privacy wasn't exactly a part of their family. "Even if you didn't really know them, it still hurts to know they're gone."

Melody blushed slightly when Bo told her that the woman in the picture looked like her. "You think so?" She asked with a sad smile. It made her happy knowing that she did look like the woman in the picture. She cared about her, even though she'd never met her and never would, due to the woman's fate. The young girl looked over at her brother as he touched her shoulder and gave it a a small squeeze.

She was happy that she was happy that she had shared this with him. She listened as he spoke about his feelings about his families fate and she nodded. She had known what had happened, but that didn't make anything better. Melody bit her lip and turned, and embraced her brother a in a small hug. "Thank you Bo." She said pulled away, looking at the locket. "Would you help me put it on?"